A conveyor belt of a conveyor machine is used for conveying various kinds of fried products. In general, a conveyor belt is formed by multiple conveyor strips that are usually made of a high temperature resistant and non-sticking material, such as Teflon™. Thus, most conveyor strips have surfaces clad with a Teflon™ layer, contain strip-like Teflon™ strips or are entirely made of Teflon™. In the description below, three main types of conveyor strips of a conventional conveyor machine are described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.
In a first conventional type of conveyor belt 1, The conveyor belt 1 is formed by pivotally connecting a plurality of round rods 11 having surfaces clad with a thin Teflon™ layer 12. The surface of each of the round rods 11 has an arched plane for conveying fried products. However, the thin Teflon™ layer 12 at the surface of the each of the round rods 11 of the conveyor belt 1 frequently comes into contact with the high temperature of the frying oil, and may likely disengage from the surface of each of the round rods 11 after a period of use, hence revealing the round rods 11.
However, first of all, when the conveyor belt 1 conveys fried products, the surface of each of the round rods 11 from which the Teflon™ layer 12 has disengaged is liable to sticking to the fried products. Fried meat products are particularly liable to sticking, and so the conveyor belt 1 may damage an appearance of the fried products.
Secondly, due to a large gap among the round rods 11 (as shown in FIG. 1), when the conveyor belt 1 conveys fried products using the round rods 11, large-sized fried products may be caused to have bumpy and uneven surfaces.
In the second conventional type of conveyor belt 2, the conveyor belt 2 includes a plurality of vertically alternately arranged arched grooves 22 to form a curved Teflon™ belt 21. A connecting rod 23 that is not provided with Teflon™ is inserted into each of the plurality of arched grooves of the Teflon™ belt 21.
However, when the conveyor belt 2 conveys fried products, surfaces of the connecting rods 11 not provided with Teflon™ are likely to stick to the fried products, such that not only surfaces and appearances of the fried products are damaged, but also the conveyor belt 2 needs to be frequently cleaned to result in application inconveniences.
Secondly, due to large gaps 24 among the round rods 23 (as shown in FIG. 1), when the conveyor belt 2 conveys fried products using the connecting rods 23, large-sized fried products may be caused to have bumpy and uneven surfaces.
Thirdly, as the Teflon™ belt 21 is inserted among the connecting rods 23 and is in a tensed state, qualitative change and breakage of the Teflon™ belt 21 may easily occur. Thus, such conveyor belt 2 is non-ideal.
In the third type of conveyor belt 3, the conveyor belt 3 is formed by rectangular Teflon™ strips 30. An opening 31 is provided at the bottom of each of the Teflon™ strips 30, and a connecting rod 32 is internally inserted at each of two sides for pivotal connection. As the Teflon™ strips 30 used by the conveyor belt 3 have flat and even surfaces, better conveying planes are provided compared to the first and second types of conveyor belts. However, the conventional conveyor belt 3 easily suffers from issues below during a process of conveying fried products.
First of all, to allow chains coordinating with the Teflon™ strips 30 of the conveyor belt 3 to smoothly turn at turning positions, and to prevent the Teflon™ strips 30 of the conveyor belt 3 from coming into contact with one another at corners 301 at two sides (as shown in FIG. 3), extremely large gaps 33 exists among the Teflon™ strips 30, hence similarly causing large-sized fried products to appear bumpy and uneven.
Secondly, when the conveyor belt 3 conveys fried products, the openings 31 provided below the respective Teflon™ strips 30 of the conveyor belt 3 are hollow and are located in the chains. As a result, the inside of the Teflon™ strips 30 may be filled with undesired residual materials that are not easy to clean, hence causing hygiene issues.